Graziadio Business School and the Organizational Behavior Division of Management 2020 Award for Societal Impact
The Organizational Behavior (OB) Division of Management introduced a new award this year, which was sponsored by Graziadio Business School and established by the dean’s distinguished professor Cristina Gibson. The OB Award for Societal Impact is an award to recognize and incentivize scholarly work in organizational behavior with societal impact. Scholarly work with societal impact aids in addressing grand societal problems often incredibly challenging and that persist over many years such as health and well-being, income and social inequality, and the preservation of the environment.
This year’s award recipient went to Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts, professor at University of Virginia. Dr. Roberts’ research and consulting focuses on the science of maximizing human potential in diverse organizations and communities. She has published over fifty research articles, teaching cases, and practitioner-oriented tools for strategically activiantg best selves through strength-based development.
“The award for societal impact requires that a nominee translate their academic insights to the world of practice for the betterment of people’s lives. Laura Morgan Roberts’ work has achieved this by helping to shape how individuals can (re)construe their social identities to be seen more fully and holistically at work. She brings a powerful combination of top-notch academic work that tackles issues of structural injustice, racism and sexism, and widespread impact on the world of practice. Beyond her professional achievements, she seems to embody the spirit of this award. Her developmental focus and collaborative endeavors have inspired junior and senior scholars alike, both personally and professionally,” said the award committee.
The award committee was composed of organizational behavior scholars and practitioners where they assessed nominations and used a specific criteria to recommend a winner. Committee members included Abbie Shipp from Texas Christian University (chair), Bernard Coleman from Gusto (formerly of Uber), Morela Hernandez from University of Virginia-Darden, Laura Huang from Harvard Business School, and Jennifer Kurkoski from Google.